Grocery Budget for College Student or Singles

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trimom10
trimom10 Posts: 388 Member
in Food and Nutrition
My college aged son is going to live off campus this semester without a meal plan and I have no idea how much I should allow for a weekly or monthly grocery budget. I'm so used to buying for our family of five with three teenagers. I know there's some variables depending upon locale/stores, but I'd like to get some feedback on reasonable budgets. He is doing a high protein diet and eats fairly healthy since he's a student athlete. If you are single, how much do you spend on food? If you have a son in college, what have you allowed for a budget?

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  • macybean
    macybean Posts: 258 Member
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    I don't have a recommendation for a budget, but there's a great website on what's the best food for tight budgets, broken down by fruits, vegetables, protein, etc. There are basic recipes too. Here's the link, http://www.ewg.org/goodfood/index.php. Hope it helps!
  • amberlykay1014
    amberlykay1014 Posts: 608 Member
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    Well, everyone eats differently, but when I caculated my food budget in college I think I just added up average cost of meals..

    Breakfast: $3
    Lunch: $6
    Dinner: $9

    ETA: Of course, your son probably eats way more than I do and may or may not buy in bulk, so the figures probably vary a lot. But it's just an idea.
  • wait_loss
    wait_loss Posts: 117 Member
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    Believe it or not the average price to feed a single person in most parts of Canada is 300 a month average. But I just did the shopping for the two of us for a month and a half for $160.00 . If you do a search for cost of living in the area and inflation for the area there might be a web link that will say what it is for your childs area. Remember this number is to include toiletries and the odd meal out. Hope this helps.
  • MindyBlack
    MindyBlack Posts: 954 Member
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    I don't have a recommendation for a budget, but there's a great website on what's the best food for tight budgets, broken down by fruits, vegetables, protein, etc. There are basic recipes too. Here's the link, http://www.ewg.org/goodfood/index.php. Hope it helps!

    I don't have a son in college but thanks for this link. I am on a super tight budget.
  • angelz_love
    angelz_love Posts: 36 Member
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    will he be close enough to you to "grocery shop" at your house? hat way it would be easier to continue to buy in bulk, ( if you do) When I was single living with my son ( he was under 10) I spent maybe $150-200 and that was just enough. A lot of oatmeal and wheat bread and eggs and tuna! I'd buy beans and cook them myself too as opposed to buying canned. Fish and shrimp had to be frozen. Fruit and veggies were eaten sparingly ( we'd eat those at my sisters house, As I was on a really tight budget.) When eating on a budget I found that most often you are really eating as fuel not taste. Fortunetely my son eats anything and never complained!
  • krs5201
    krs5201 Posts: 30 Member
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    I was on a VERY tight budget in college, so I spent less than $100 max on groceries, but did allow myself a little spending to buy on campus. Also, I didn't really eat a whole lot and did a lot of couponing for when I did.
    Is he getting a meal plan though? I highly recommend even though he is living off campus, and even more highly recommend since he is a student athlete and will be on campus a lot because of that, and will likely want to grab food with his teammates.

    When I was eating on campus, it was much cheaper to eat if you had a meal plan. Also look into whether they have a campus "cash" system. I've worked at multiple universities in their food services division and all of them have some sort of system where you can load money onto their ID card for them to be able to spend on campus.
  • 777Gemma888
    777Gemma888 Posts: 9,578 Member
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    My college aged son is going to live off campus this semester without a meal plan and I have no idea how much I should allow for a weekly or monthly grocery budget. I'm so used to buying for our family of five with three teenagers. I know there's some variables depending upon locale/stores, but I'd like to get some feedback on reasonable budgets. He is doing a high protein diet and eats fairly healthy since he's a student athlete. If you are single, how much do you spend on food? If you have a son in college, what have you allowed for a budget?

    If it's just for food, $50 should be sufficient. You might want to look into a membership with something like Costco.
  • PaprikaPrincess
    PaprikaPrincess Posts: 89 Member
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    I would check out what he has to cook with - pots, pans, toaster, crock pot, etc. It can be kind of sketchy on the equipment side in off campus housing.
  • Koorii
    Koorii Posts: 65 Member
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    I'm in college and I usually spend around 50-60 on groceries. I'm usually somewhat below my calorie goals, so I I had a little more money I would probably buy more, but I work with what I've got.
  • AyaKara
    AyaKara Posts: 220
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    I'm in college & I spend $50 a week on groceries. My typical grocery week is this:

    A case of oatmeal (this lasts 2-3 weeks), 7 yogurts, 7 protein bars, 7 cans of tuna, a carton of eggs (lasts 2 weeks), a bunch of bananas, 1lb of apples (lasts 2 weeks), a gallon of milk (lasts 2 weeks), a box of raisins (lasts 2-3 weeks), a jar of nuts (lasts 2-3 weeks), wheat bread (lasts 2 weeks), & boxes of frozen vegetables.

    I eat 1700-1800 a day, so I'm not starving. I also eat whatever meat my mom cooks (I live at home, but I only eat what meat she cooks for my protein. If I didn't, I would just buy some meat & grill it myself).

    Since there are a lot of items that can last for more than a week, your son can budget his food really well by spending more on weeks where those items run out & less on others. Encourage him to get a work-study or on-campus job, too! Colleges also have lots of events with free food, so he has options. He'll be okay. :flowerforyou:
  • leojsivad
    leojsivad Posts: 124 Member
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    My wife and I eat on around $50 a week. When I was single, it was around 35-40$.
  • trimom10
    trimom10 Posts: 388 Member
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    Thanks for all of your feedback and helpful hints. He will be getting a meal plan, with the thought that he would eat one meal a day on campus. We'll probably set him on $50 per week and go from there.

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